- Chief Olusegun Obasanjo said Jonathan was afraid for his life because of Buhari
- He said he thought Buhari would jail him when he emerged as president
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has claimed that former president, Goodluck Jonathan was afraid of what Muhammadu Buhari might do to him if he comes into power.
The 2015 election was hotly contested between Jonathan and Buhari with the latter emerging as eventual winner.
Obasanjo’s claim was contained in a book written by the Chairman of ThisDay Editorial Board, Segun Adeniyi.
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Obasanjo said: “I believe the President’s concern or fear is not about life after office per se, because he and I have had occasions to talk about this both seriously and jovially.
“I believe the President’s fear is particularly motivated by the person he sees as his likely successor, that is General Buhari.
“I believe the people would have been telling him that Buhari is a hard man; he would fight corruption and he (Jonathan) may end up in jail if not in the grave.”
Obasanjo also spoke about how Jonathan rescinded on his promise and contested in the 2015 elections.
He said: He said: “You know of course that Jonathan was not my first choice as running mate to your late boss (Yar’Adua), it was Dr. Peter Odili. But whether by fate or some conspiracy, Odili had hurdles that made it impossible for him to take the position. That was how I settled for Jonathan.
“I saw the emergence of Jonathan as an opportunity to solve the minority agitation. The three majority ethnic groups can always sort themselves out but not so for the minority.
“A good example is my state here in Ogun. Despite the best intentions, nobody from Ogun West has been able to become governor because of this minority issue and it will take a conscious effort to make it happen. “So, it was in that context that I had to plead with prominent people in the North to allow Jonathan run for a term.”
Obasanjo insisted that Jonathan had always reiterated that he would only seek a term.
“I confronted him several times but he kept deceiving himself and when I could no longer put up with it, I had to register my opposition to the idea on record as I did in my letter to him.
“I didn’t join them in supporting Buhari; I joined in opposing Jonathan so Buhari was just a beneficiary of my opposition to Jonathan since my opposition was AOBJ: Any Option But Jonathan
“Jonathan and his handlers believed they could buy the election and they were so arrogant about it that the PDP would print only one nomination for him and him alone.
“If he was wise, he would have yielded the ticket to somebody else in the PDP.”
